In a small village in the heart of Sicily, pizzilati are one of the three typical sweets from Nicosia prepared during the Christmas period. These are cookies filled with figs, almonds, and raisins, or with quince jam. From my grandparents’ stories, it was a tradition in every family to start preparing these sweets from the second week of December, using simple and easily available ingredients at home at the time. They were then consumed during the holidays, also because they keep perfectly for at least twenty days.
This custom continues today, although many people prefer to buy them ready-made. However, those who own a wood-fired oven keep the tradition alive: in these days, trays upon trays of pizzilati, nocattoli, and almond rame are baked.
And yes, you never prepare just one tray, but a real shipload of sweets, to give away and enjoy at Christmas, New Year’s, and Epiphany.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 20
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Sicily
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients for 20 pizzilati
- 4 cups g all-purpose flour (or Type 0 flour)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup g lard
- 3/4 cup g sugar
- 1/2 package baking powder
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 cup g fig jam
- sliced almonds
- raisins
- ground cinnamon (optional)
- quince jam
- as needed powdered sugar
Tools
- Stand Mixer
- Wooden Board
- Rolling Pin
- Cookie Cutter
- Zigzag Pastry Wheel
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Sugar Shaker
Preparation
You can choose to knead by hand or use the stand mixer with the K hook.
Start the preparation of the pizzilati by placing the sifted flour into a bowl together with the sugar and form a well. Crack the eggs in the center and start incorporating them into the dry ingredients. Then add the lard in pieces and let it be absorbed by the dough.
In a glass, put two generous tablespoons of milk and dissolve the baking powder in it, stirring with a teaspoon. Pour this mixture into the dough and work everything until you get a smooth and homogeneous ball.
Lightly flour a wooden board, divide the dough into two parts, and start rolling out the first part with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Use a cookie cutter to cut out some discs and set them aside.
Then roll out the second part of the dough to a thinner thickness, about half of the first, so 1/8 inch: this will be used for the pizzilati covering.Prepare the fig filling by putting the fig jam in a bowl together with a handful of almonds and a handful of raisins. Mix everything well and let it sit for a couple of minutes.
Now take the discs of dough about 1/4 inch thick and place them on a work surface. Put a tablespoon of fig filling or quince jam in the center of each disc.
On the thinner discs, instead, make two small central cuts with a zigzag pastry wheel. Place the cut discs over the filled ones and seal the edges well by applying light pressure with your fingers.
Place the pizzilati on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them in a preheated oven at 350°F for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden.Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of hours. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Tips and Storage
You can substitute the fig jam with dried figs cut into pieces. In this case, the filling should rest for at least half an hour before being used, to soften and blend better.
The traditional sweets of my town are exclusively made with lard: replacing it with butter or other fats will not yield the same result in terms of taste or texture.
Pizzilati keep perfectly for at least 20 days when stored in a well-sealed tin box.
